Baby Chicks

Our hen Edith became broody and I tracked down some fertilized eggs for her to sit on (since we don't have a rooster).  She did a great job sitting on them, but for some reason none of them took.  :(  In fact one became so rotten it burst.  Yuck!  But she was so faithful.  In fact a chicken "pregnancy" is 21 days and she sat there for 25 before I realized those eggs were never going to hatch.  So with a little scrambling I found some young baby chicks via our local farming Facebook page.  I placed 5 chicks underneath her at night, switching them out for the eggs while she was asleep.  The moment she heard them peeping she began clucking contentedly and she accepted them as her own immediately! 

I wanted her to be able to raise the chicks herself and forage with them so I built a chicken tractor with my mom's help.  Look what I did! 

I was very proud of myself.  I designed it, made the material list and put it together!  I guess I did learn a few things being the wife of a carpenter for the last 10 years!

Baby chicks do not need to eat for 36 hours after hatching and I discovered why - after the brooding trance she put herself in she couldn't get up!   Of course these were not just hatched chicks so I put them out in the tractor so they could peck around.  It took mama a full day to try to drink and another full day before she was able to stand up.  Sitting on a nest for 25 days with minimal food and water wears a girl out! 

Mama and chicks - she might not have been able to move, but she kept a good eye on them.

Giving me the evil eye

Scratching and pecking

Teaching babies how to eat

Adorable little chick

Mama and baby

Babies!

Sticking close to mama

It's so adorable to watch them.  She clucks to keep them close and they don't stray far.  Every once and a while one will duck under her and warm up and then jump out.  And there is not much cuter then a baby chick sitting on mama's back!  The five chicks are just a barnyard mix, but the woman I got them from said she had Buff Brahmas, Rhode Island Reds, Comets and Dominiques.  I can't wait to see their coloring!

Blessed

I am a lucky, lucky woman.  I mean, look at these people!

Could they be more handsome or gorgeous? 

I have many frustrating days, but I know how blessed I am to be a stay at home mom and have all these people belong to me. 

Spring Gardening

Spring is here and that means I haven't been online much.  We have been busy getting our new garden plot started.  We are in the process of buying my mom's house and we have so much planned for it it's overwhelming!  The new garden plot it where the old chicken run used to be plus a little more.  It's about 25x35 and we are shoving as much as possible in there!

Yes, that is me digging a garden with a baby strapped on my back.  I am woman, hear me roar!

This is what we have so far.  Nicely tilled and straw on the pathways.  The large area with straw on the right is already planted potatoes.  

We also have a broody hen!  I got some fertile eggs from a local woman for her to sit on so we might have more baby chicks soon.  Praying she will be a good mama!

Edith our hopeful mama

Fiona 3 month(ish) update

Fiona is in the middle of a roaring 3 month growth spurt.  She is eating constantly! 

Seriously.

Every hour on the hour she nurses for 30 minutes.

How am I supposed to get anything done?

She is also smiling, laughing, cooing and adoring peek-a-boo and tickles. 

My precious girl in her Easter dress!

I Think I'm Officially Crazy!

My mom talked me into our newest venture - raising rabbits!  Yes, really.

We plan on selling them, but mainly using them for meat. 

Yes, I know.  Bunnies are cute and furry.  There is actually a long tradition of raising rabbits for meat that has for some reason fallen out of style the last few decades other then a resurgence during WW2.  The Dutch probably would not have survived the Nazi occupation if it were not for their backyard rabbits!  Rabbit meat is low in cholesterol and fat and a domesticated rabbit is all white meat!  A buck (male) and two does (females) can give you 300 lbs a meat a year from their litters.  Not shabby!  And since the kits are ready to eat at 10 weeks or so there is not a lot of investment compared to other meat animals. 

People have difficulty with the thought of raising their own meat.  Our society is so far removed from where meat comes from.  At least I know that my meat had a very happy and comfortable life.  Think those poor animals you get from the grocery store.  They were practically tortured!  My animals have fresh air and treats and cuddles and then one bad moment.  Or at least that is the idea. 

So here are our newest additions, these will be our pets/breeders. 

This is Captain Jack - a Broken Black New Zealand.  He's our buck!

This is Mocha.  She's a Flemish Giant/Dutch mix.

And these adorable babies are Captain Jack's babies with another Broken Black New Zealand.  They are too small for us to figure out their sexes yet.  We plan on keeping two of them and we have possible homes for the other two!

This is Claire's favorite baby.  We are definitely keeping him/her.  She's been calling it Cloudy.

 

Claire with one of the spotted babies.  Daddy already had me promise that we will keep one of those!

Homeschooling is a Way of Life

This morning I posted on my Facebook how I find it interesting that Claire and I can complete in one hour what takes an entire day at school and got a surprising amount of comments.  Some of which were borderline rude.

But then a fellow homeschooling friend pointed out that homeschooling is a mindset and what I completed in an hour this morning was just the beginning of our lessons today.  So true!

This morning Claire and I read a Bible story, learned about ancient Egyptian gods, did a lesson in The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, two pages in Evan Moor's Daily Phonics 1, one handwriting page and a math lesson. 

And -

She watched WordWorld on Hulu while she ate her breakfast.
We took care of our chickens and rabbit.
She watched baby Fiona while I took a shower.
She cleaned part of her room.
She helped bring in wood.
She played with her brother.
She folded all the napkins and towels.
She helped make lunch.
She laid on my bed for an hour looking at books and resting. 
She played on her Innotab.
She cut pictures out of old magazines and glued them on paper.
She helped her grandma make cookies. 

And the day is not over!

Rest in Peace Henry the Rooster

We found Henry the Rooster dead this morning.  We knew he was not well.  He had a deformed pelvis (called wry tail) and would have to do this weird hop to walk around.  If he had been a hen he would have died the first time he tried to lay an egg.  (He would have become egg bound.)  We knew we had to put him out of his misery, but Claire loved him so we kept putting it off.  It was actually better to find him like this.  Claire and my Mom buried him this morning and Claire said she was glad Henry "killed himself" so she didn't have to watch Daddy do it.  She's learning life.  She'll be fine. 

Adding to the Menagerie

The other day a friend of mine sent me a message via Facebook asking me if we wanted a rabbit.  They have two boys and she said the bunny wasn't getting the attention it deserved.  She knew our Claire was an animal lover and her husband said the rabbit needed a little girl.  :)

We had discussed rabbits before but decided it would be a few years away, but here was a free rabbit that came with a hutch and everything!

Claire was so excited the moment she over heard us talking about it and the decision was made! 

They brought her over yesterday and Claire has been talking to her, giving her treats and snuggling with her every since.  She even went outside before bed last night with a flashlight to tell her goodnight!

Claire decided to rename her (she was going by Lil Ben at her old house) and we have gone through several names (Lilly, Aurora, Belle, Elizabeth, Stormy, Mrs. Bunny, etc) but I think we finally settled on one after noticing her one white foot.  Presenting Claire and Mrs. Sugarfoot!

Chandler is 4!

I just realized I never posted about Chandler's birthday!

My son requested a Superman birthday.  I had no idea that Superman was so out of fashion!  I searched everywhere.  I ended up finding some Mylar balloons on Amazon and had them filled at the party store here in town.  I also found some Superman fabric and made cloth napkins out of them.  Cute and reusable!  I actually am thinking about using the squares to make him a small quilt now.  :)  The rest was just blue, red and yellow with the centerpiece - a Superman emblem cake made by my mother!  All he asked to have to eat was chocolate cake and cantaloupe.  Works for me!  Chandler was thrilled and loved it all and that's what matters! 

Mom decorating the cake with an audience

THAT is a happy boy! 

Simple, but enjoyable!

The cake!

Walkie-talkies!

My sister brought her new puppy Leia!

Fiona enjoying the party from the swing

Chowing down on some chocolate cake!

My 4 year old!

So proud of my Claire!

Claire has been at a standstill when it comes to reading.   She will be 7 in June and I was starting to think I was never going to get her going.  She knew all her letter sounds and could ssslllooowwwlly sound them out, but then she couldn't figure out what word she was trying to say.  

But ....

Yesterday Claire had a breakthrough with her reading! I'm so proud! She was just giddy with herself!

I decided to pull The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading out and and start back at the beginning.  We whizzed through lessons 1-27 (which were just each letter and it's sound) and when we got to lesson 28 she sounded out the first word, and then the second, and then the third!  We did 4 more lessons and she read every word she needed too with minimal difficulties.  Claire was so excited and proud of herself! 

Last night before going to bed she told me, "Mom, I want to do school everyday! Forever! And if someone tells me to stop I'll just say 'No! I still have things I need to learn!'" ♥ 

She knows her way to her mama's heart.

How to Start Back?

We have now officially taken our summer break this winter.  It has been "Mama-is-having-a-baby-and-is-too-exhausted-to-do-schoolwork" kind of break since Thanksgiving!  I know it has been too long because today the kids were playing outside and I went out on the porch to call them in so we could go to the store.  Claire misunderstood me and began dancing towards the house singing, "Hurray!  Schoolwork!  We get to do schoolwork!" 

That's a homeschool child for you.

Unfortunately I need to a bulldozer to clean out the homeschool cabinet after Claire and Chandler have had free reign with the craft supplies and educational toys in there.  I can't even find some of their schoolbooks right now!  Hopefully Fiona will cooperate with me getting my organizing on.  Wish us Luck and Godspeed!

Chicken eggs!

Look what we got!!

Our little girls are growing up!